"The past seven years have been extremely painful watching and listening while others incorrectly attempted to define who my son really was,'' she said. "Now, through patience, the strength of my family and faith in God, the true story of Tupac is finally being shared with the world.''

Lumberton is one of four cities selected to premiere a documentary on the life of slain rapper Tupac Shakur.

Shakur's mother, Afeni Shakur, will host a special screening of "Tupac: Resurrection'' on Friday. The documentary was shown Tuesday in Los Angeles. It will premiere in New York on Monday and in Atlanta on Nov. 12. The movie is scheduled to open nationwide Nov. 14.

The special screening is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Town & Country Theater on Fayetteville Road. Tickets are $20 and include a reception afterward at the Frederick G. Williams Student Center on the campus of Robeson Community College. Proceeds from the special showing will go to the Robeson County Public Library and Robeson Community College.

The movie was produced by Afeni Shakur in collaboration with MTV Films and is being released through Paramount Pictures.

Tupac Shakur was gunned down in September 1996 in Las Vegas. He was 25 years old.

Prior to his death, Shakur was among the top-selling hip-hop artists, selling millions of CDs. He also starred in several films.

Unreleased material

He left behind volumes of unreleased material. Afeni Shakur sued Tupac's record label for ownership of his music. Five albums have been released since his death, bringing in about $40million to his estate over the past four years. Afeni Shakur recently produced a double CD of her son's unreleased songs. More than 2.7 million of Shakur's CDs were sold last year.

Lumberton was chosen as one of the locations for the premiere because of Afeni Shakur's ties to Robeson County.

"This is where our family heritage began,'' Afeni Shakur said Tuesday. "We were slaves, then sharecroppers, then domestics, right here in Robeson County. I want to share with our community how hard work, faith in God and sense of self can change things for the better in all our lives.''

Shakur, an activist and chairwoman of Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, spent a small part of her childhood in Lumberton, but she considers Lumberton home. She has a 56-acre farm about seven miles east of town. She has given thousands of dollars to W.H. Knuckles Elementary School and to the public library and donated food from her farm to the elderly.

She said the hardest thing she had to rebound from was the death of her son.

"The past seven years have been extremely painful watching and listening while others incorrectly attempted to define who my son really was,'' she said. "Now, through patience, the strength of my family and faith in God, the true story of Tupac is finally being shared with the world.''

Shakur said she wants the audience to leave the theater with a sense of Tupac Shakur's humor, intellect and genius.

"He was born to lead, despite the baggage he came here with,'' she said.

Golf tournament

Shakur will remain in Robeson County on Saturday to host the James "Head'' Lassiter Charity Golf Tournament "Swing for the Troops.'' Proceeds from the tournament will benefit the Fort Bragg Area Community Foundation, which assists families affected by the war. Money from last year's golf tournament was used to buy playground equipment at W.H. Knuckles Elementary School in Lumberton, Shakur's alma mater.

"I selected the Fort Bragg Community Foundation because of the good work that they are doing and because many of my neighboring families are having a difficult time due to circumstances created by this war,'' Shakur said. "They deserve better.''

The tournament will take place at Cliffwood Golf Club on N.C. 41 south of Lumberton.

Shakur said her life has been enriched through her philanthropy.

"I look around and see our community thriving,'' Shakur said. "My sister and I grew up having instill

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